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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1799275.Shakespeare_s_Secret?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Shakespeare's Secret" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1188507726m/1799275.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1799275.Shakespeare_s_Secret?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Shakespeare's Secret</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/23642.Elise_Broach">Elise Broach</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/12909678?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 2 of 5 stars Shakespeare’s Secret’s main character is Hero Netherfield, a 6th grade girl who is trying to adjust to a new school. She is an outcast that contrasts greatly to her outgoing, pretty sister Beatrice. Both girls get their names from the Shakespearian play Much Ado About Nothing, which is a favorite of their Shakespearian scholar father. Hero is miserable because of the teasing of classmates, but the friendship of an elderly neighbor and a neighborhood boy who confides the details of a famous missing million dollar diamond makes things a bit more bearable. The fact that the diamond is rumored to be hidden in the house that Hero’s family has moved in to makes this mystery very personal for Hero. 
 This fictional novel is a mystery, but it takes information about Shakespeare and other figures of Elizabethan history and uses them to tell the story. Broach uses the same device that Dan Brown used when writing The Da Vinci Code. Shakespeare’s Secret contains some historical facts, some hypotheses from scholars, and events completely made up by the author to create a mystery about a missing diamond from a necklace that may have belonged to Ann Boleyn. I hope that students read the Author’s Note at the end of the novel which clarifies what is real, what is speculation, and what is fiction. If I were to be using this in my classroom I would make an entire lesson of reading the Author’s Note and discussing the difference between truth and fiction. As The Da Vinci Code left some adults with misconceptions, Shakespeare’s Secret could do the same if not properly discussed. 
 Shakespeare’s Secret is intended for students in grades 4th-8th. The story does not contain anything that is obviously inappropriate, but it does allude to figures in history having “lovers”, and there is some mention of rude things written on boy’s restroom walls, but the author is vague about what might be the content of this vandalism. The central theme of this novel is friendship and secrets, but toward the end of the story, school violence and harassment is brought up. This would lead to interesting discussion in the classroom on how harassment is dealt with by teachers and administrators. 
 Shakespeare’s Secret has been frequently reviewed, and across the board the reviews were favorable. The reviewer from Booklist thought that readers would enjoy the “true emotions and rich language”. I agree with the reviewer from Horn Book that this was an “absorbing” story, but that it did tend to “strain credibility too far”. Despite its minor flaws, Shakespeare’s Secret is a great story that will spark great discussions. 
 
 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/415101?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Nova's review
rating:
bookshelves: library-materials

Shakespeare’s Secret’s main character is Hero Netherfield, a 6th grade girl who is trying to adjust to a new school. She is an outcast that contrasts greatly to her outgoing, pretty sister Beatrice. Both girls get their names from the Shakespearian play Much Ado About Nothing, which is a favorite of their Shakespearian scholar father. Hero is miserable because of the teasing of classmates, but the friendship of an elderly neighbor and a neighborhood boy who confides the details of a famous missing million dollar diamond makes things a bit more bearable. The fact that the diamond is rumored to be hidden in the house that Hero’s family has moved in to makes this mystery very personal for Hero.
This fictional novel is a mystery, but it takes information about Shakespeare and other figures of Elizabethan history and uses them to tell the story. Broach uses the same device that Dan Brown used when writing The Da Vinci Code. Shakespeare’s Secret contains some historical facts...more Shakespeare’s Secret’s main character is Hero Netherfield, a 6th grade girl who is trying to adjust to a new school. She is an outcast that contrasts greatly to her outgoing, pretty sister Beatrice. Both girls get their names from the Shakespearian play Much Ado About Nothing, which is a favorite of their Shakespearian scholar father. Hero is miserable because of the teasing of classmates, but the friendship of an elderly neighbor and a neighborhood boy who confides the details of a famous missing million dollar diamond makes things a bit more bearable. The fact that the diamond is rumored to be hidden in the house that Hero’s family has moved in to makes this mystery very personal for Hero.
This fictional novel is a mystery, but it takes information about Shakespeare and other figures of Elizabethan history and uses them to tell the story. Broach uses the same device that Dan Brown used when writing The Da Vinci Code. Shakespeare’s Secret contains some historical facts, some hypotheses from scholars, and events completely made up by the author to create a mystery about a missing diamond from a necklace that may have belonged to Ann Boleyn. I hope that students read the Author’s Note at the end of the novel which clarifies what is real, what is speculation, and what is fiction. If I were to be using this in my classroom I would make an entire lesson of reading the Author’s Note and discussing the difference between truth and fiction. As The Da Vinci Code left some adults with misconceptions, Shakespeare’s Secret could do the same if not properly discussed.
Shakespeare’s Secret is intended for students in grades 4th-8th. The story does not contain anything that is obviously inappropriate, but it does allude to figures in history having “lovers”, and there is some mention of rude things written on boy’s restroom walls, but the author is vague about what might be the content of this vandalism. The central theme of this novel is friendship and secrets, but toward the end of the story, school violence and harassment is brought up. This would lead to interesting discussion in the classroom on how harassment is dealt with by teachers and administrators.
Shakespeare’s Secret has been frequently reviewed, and across the board the reviews were favorable. The reviewer from Booklist thought that readers would enjoy the “true emotions and rich language”. I agree with the reviewer from Horn Book that this was an “absorbing” story, but that it did tend to “strain credibility too far”. Despite its minor flaws, Shakespeare’s Secret is a great story that will spark great discussions.

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